Photo 'Tornado' UK Steam Loco 60163 Set Off Station Fire Alarm

A1 Class 60163 Steam Loco 'Tornado' Passes Through Huntingdon  

Photo: Charles Moorhen

 

60163 'Tornado' Steam Loco

It seems that a few members of the public were a bit too quick off the mark in phoning the fire services as they passed Edinburgh's Waverley station on Sunday 5th July 2015.

 At 3pm in the afternoon, three fire engines were dispatched to the station in response to calls from the public stating that they believed a building was on fire on Waverley Bridge.

Edinburgh Waverley Station

 

It soon transpired that the 'fire' was a false alarm.  

The smoke had come from UK steam locomotive  60163 'Tornado' as it passed through the station.

Still.  Better to be safe than sorry as they say.

 

Another 'Tornado' post you may wish to see: 

 
92 Year-Old Model Maker Completes Matchstick Tornado Locomotive.


60163 'Tornado steam locomotive on YouTube:

No. 60163 A1 Pacific at York.

 

60163 'Tornado' Whirls Through the West Country.

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Photo Tornado UK Steam Loco 60163 Matchstick Model Built by Pensioner

Tornado Loco Matchstick Model

George Day With 'Tornado' Matchstick Model

92 year-old model maker, George Day, who lives in Darlington, has recently completed the construction of his latest model railway locomotive - 60163 Class A2 Tornado - made entirely from matchsticks and copper wire.

 
Pensioner Mr. Day, who worked for the London North Eastern Railway when he left school at the age of 16, and then for British Railways and British Rail at Bank Top Engine Shed in Darlington, has, over the years, created dozens of models of the UK steam locomotives he worked on either as a cleaner, fireman or driver.

Speaking about the making of the Tornado locomotive model, he said: "It took me over a year to complete, but I am really pleased with the Tornado; it is certainly one of the best models I have made."

The Real Tornado Locomotive

A stickler for detail, Mr. Day also uses copper wire to represent the pipes that would be on the locomotives.

Spending a few hours each day crafting his models, which require thousands of matches, he joked: "I think I am keeping the matchstick industry going, given how many I use."

His current project is another locomotive, a J27, which featured in the long-running television drama, Hearbeat.

 

Another 'Tornado' post:

Tornado locomotive Sets Off Fire Alarm. 

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Photo Shillingstone Railway Acquires Ex Virgin Mk 3 UK Buffet Car

 

Shillingstone Heritage Railway News

Ex-Virgin Trains Buffet Car Arrives at Shillingstone Station

The Shillingstone Railway Project based at Shillingstone station, opened in 1863 and owned by the Dorset Central Railway, has acquired a former main line coach to add to its inventory of railway items.

 
The coach, transported by road from Chilmark, is a UK Mark 3 Buffet Car built for British Rail in 1970 at their Derby works.

The Mk 3 saw service with British Rail before joining the ranks of Virgin Trains rolling stock where it worked until retirement in 2002.  It was then stored until 2005 and was used by the Army for bomb disposal training.

The Shillingstone Railway Project plan to restore the Mk 3 coach - which at time of writing still carries the early Virgin Trains livery - hoping to run it on their 1/4 mile of track from Shillingstone station pending planning permission.

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Photo Ffestiniog Railway's New Pullman Observation Coach

 

Art and Beauty In One Package

Ffestiniog Railway's Pullman Observation Coach on Home Turf

Rail passengers using London's Paddington station throughout the month until the 27th of June 2015 had the opportunity to see a superb example of moden-day railway coachbuilding skills.

 
On display between platforms 8 & 9, celebrating 150 years of passenger service on the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway (F&WHR), is a brand new UK Pullman observation coach designed and built by craftsmen at the railway's Boston Lodge works, at a cost of £250,000.

Paul Lewin, spokesman for the 40-mile railway said: "Our brand new luxury Pullman Observation Saloon marks the beginning of a new era for our railway and sets high standards to enable passengers to enjoy the glorious Snowdoniam scenery in style.

However, it is not only passengers at Paddington station who will get the chance to see the stunning new coach, it will also be visiting Bristol and the Shrewsbury Flower Show, with other venues yet to be announced.

The Pullman Observation Saloon is expected to go into public service in 2016.

Further details on the Ffestiniog Railway website.

 

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Photo Class 34016 'Bodmin' West Country Class Southern Railway Steam Loco

Southern Railway West Country Class Steam Locomotive 34016 'Bodmin' at Alton
 Photo: Charles Moorhen

Battle of Britain Locomotive Still Battling

Belonging to a class of UK steam locomotives known as the West Country class, 34016 'Bodmin', seen here in preservation at Alton railway station on the Mid-Hants Railway also known as the 'Watercress Line', is as good today as she was when she hauled an endless succession of trains between London and Cornwall.

'Bodmin' was one of 110 locomotives, numbered 34001 to 34110, designed by O.V.Bulleid specifically for hauling passenger trains on the non-electrified main lines of the Southern Railway.

The first of the class, 34001 'Exeter', came out of Brighton Works brand-new in May 1945 where it was allocated to Exmouth Junction shed which opened on the 3rd November 1887 and covered eleven tracks. 

Production of the class increased to the point that by November of the following year, 48 locomotives of the West Country class were in traffic. They quickly earned the nickname 'Spam Cans' from the trainspotting community due to the fact that the locomotives were encased in air-smoothing body panels.

  At the beginning, the West Country locomotives were given names associated with locations in south-west England such as cities, towns and popular tourist destinations. 

In November 1946 the naming policy was changed. As more locomotives of the class began to be used around Kent, a decision was made to name a number of engines after aircraft, airfields, RAF squadrons and key personalities associated with the WW2 Battle of Britain. 

And although identical in every way, a new class of locomotive was born - the Battle of Britain class.

Detail of Box Pok Wheels and Bodmin Nameplate
Photo: Charles Moorhen

34016 'Bodmin' saw sterling service over the years on Southern rails. On more than one occasion she headed the 'Man of Kent' train between Charing Cross station and Dover Marine station, such as on the 13th September 1958.

 

In May 1958, West Country Class Pacific Class 34016 'Bodmin', hauled a 'Special' through Kent to London Victoria station.  On board was the President of Italy, Signor Gronchi and his wife.  He was met at Victoria station by her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Pathe News filmed the arrival and a brief clip of 'Bodmin' can by seen near the beginning.

However, 34016 'Bodmin' was not solely reserved for hauling prestigious 'named trains'.  It also saw service heading locals, such as the 4-coach Exeter-Plymouth train on 26th August 1957.

On the 11th April 1958, she was swarmed over by railway enthusiasts at the annual Eastleigh Works Open Day as she stood resplendent in her new 'rebuilt' condition which included the removal of her air-smoothing body panels, leaving her as she appears today.

By June 1964, six years later, after 19 years of service, she had been withdrawn.

With the last of the West Country/Battle of Britain class, 34110 '66Squadron', emerging new from Brighton Works in January 1951, the writing was on the wall for steam locomotion.

As a result, the majority of the West Country, Battle of Britain, and their sister the Merchant Navy classes, ended their days cut up in scrap yards.

Luckily, avoiding one of these scrap yards, 34016 'Bodmin', made the transition from main line British Railways duties to further duties in preservation.

In 1952, according to the Ian Allen abc Locoshed Book, 72A loco shed Exmouth Junction was the one to which 34016 was allocated.

 

At the time of writing (March 2015), 'Bodmin' is out of service and stored at Carnforth.

West Country Class Locomotive Technical Specifications: (British Railways Classification).

Designer: O. V. Bulleid.
Origin: Southern Railway.
Introduced: May 1945.
Purpose: Express Passenger.
Wheel Arrangement: 4-6-2.
Number Series: 34001 - 34110.
Driving Wheel: 6ft. 2in.
Bogie Wheel: 3ft. 1in.
Length: 67ft. 4 3/4 in.
Total Weight: 128 tons 12 cwt.
Water Capacity: 4,500 gallons.
Cylinders: (3) 16 3/8in. x 24in.
Boiler Pressure: 250 lb. sq. in.
Tractive Effort: 31,050 lb.
Coal Capacity: 5 tons.
Power Classification: 7-P 5-F.

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Photo Urie Class H16 30517 Southern Railway Steam Loco

Class H16 30517 seen probably stabled at Feltham yard
Photo: Charles Moorhen

One That DIDN'T Get Away

Unlike many steam UK locomotives saved from scrapyards, such as the one at Barry, Wales, owned by Dai Williams, Southern Region Class H16 30517 was not lucky enough to avoid death from the cutter's torch.

Designed by the Scottish locomotive designer, Robert Urie, 4-6-2 30517, and four others of the class, were built at the London and South Western Railway's Eastleigh Works in Hampshire, England over the end of 1921 and the beginning of 1922.

Unlike their sister locomotives, the "G16 "Black Tanks", which were used for shunting duties at the Feltham marshalling yard near Hounslow, West London, the H16 "Green Tanks" were intended for hauling freight trains amongst yards around the London area.

The nickname, "Green Tanks" came about when the locomotives passed to the Southern Railway and were painted in lined olive green livery for limited passenger use.

During World War II, 30517 and the other four of the class were re-painted in a plain black livery; they never regained their Southern Railway green livery.

In the 1950's, the H16's were regularly seen moving empty coaching stock between Clapham Junction and Waterloo station.

With the introduction of diesel motive power rapidly increasing momentum, the final days of the 30517 and the other H16's had arrived.

In November 1962, 30516, 30518, 30519 and 30520 were withdrawn from Feltham, with 30517 following them a month later.  

The complete class of H16's was scrapped.

 

H-16 Class Locomotive Technical Specifications: (British Railways Classification).
Designer: R. W. Urie.
Origin: L.S.W.R.
Introduced: 1921.
Purpose: Heavy Freight.
Wheel Arrangement: 4-6-2.
Number Series: 30516 - 30520.
Driving Wheel: 5ft. 7in.
Bogie Wheel: 3ft. 7in.
Length: 46ft.
Weight: 96 tons 8 cwt.
Water Capacity: 2,000 gallons.
Cylinders: (2) 21 in. x 28 in.
Boiler Pressure: 180 lb. sq. in.
Tractive Effort: 28,200.
Coal Capacity: 3 tons 10 cwt.
Power Classification: 6-F

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Photos & Article Brookwood Station and London Necropolis Funeral Railway History

Victorian Funeral Railway History

Brookwood station, Surrey looking towards London

Photo: Charles Moorhen

Brookwood railway station, Surrey, opened in June 1864, on the former London & South Western Railway (L&SWR) line, between Woking and Basingstoke, is one of those nondescript places to which the average rail passenger would not give a second glance.  

But, in the overall history of L&SWR, later to become the Southern Railway, Brookwood Station played a bizarre and  fascinating role.

Behind the little Victorian-built building, on platform 2 of Brookwood railway station, on the track that runs towards Basingstoke and further on to the west of England, is the largest cemetery in Western Europe - Brookwood Cemetery. It was the brainchild of Sir Richard Brown, in response to the serious overcrowding of London's cemeteries in the 1800's.

In 1849, in order to transport the dead to their final resting place, the London Necropolis Railway (LNR) began running dedicated funeral trains from London's Waterloo station, where the LNR had its own platform with waiting rooms, to Brookwood Cemetery around 27 miles away in Surrey.

Up until the 1930's, any suitable locomotive available was used to haul the funeral trains. After that, and until the LNC officially ceased it operations just after World War Two, the trains were usually hauled by an M7 Class steam locomotive.

Southern Railway Merchant Navy Class Steam Loco Passes Through Brookwood Station Heading Towards Basingstoke - 1950s.       Photo: Ben Brooksbank

The smaller Brookwood station building, (platform 2), specifically built by the London & South Western Railway for use by funeral mourners.
Photo: Charles Moorhen

Satellite image of Brookwood Station     Courtesy:  Google Maps

 

(Red asterisk in photo shows exact location of Necropolis Railway station building on platform 2, Brookwood Station, Surrey, England)

On arrival at Brookwood railway station a funeral train, complete with coffin/s and mourners, would slowly continue on past the station for a few hundred yards, whereupon following a change of track points it left the main line and steamed onto a branch line. 

Once on the branch line the whole train would reverse down an incline, (incline can still be easily traced on the ground), before stopping at one of the two railway stations built in the grounds of the cemetery - Brookwood Cemetery North or Brookwood Cemetery South. 

The former Brookwood Cemetery South station still survives to this day and is privately owned by a religious order.

Former South Station, Brookwood Cemetery 
Photo: Charles Moorhen

The LNC offered three classes of funeral. First Class cost £2 10s (equal to £205 in 2015 terms), Second Class cost £1 (about £82 in 2015) and Third Class cost 10 shillings (.50p) or about £41 today.

However, the above prices did not taken into account travel costs for the funeral mourners. A First Class return ticket to Waterloo cost 6 shilling (.30p), Second Class cost 3/6d (17.5p), while a Third Class ticket would set a mourner back the princely sum of 2 shillings (.010p).

A number of famouspeople were buried at Brookwood Cemetery. Two such people were Robert Knox and Edith Thompson.

Robert Knox was the anatomist who accepted cadavers for dissection from the grave robbers, William Burke and William Hare. Hare saved himself from execution by turning King's evidence against Burke who was hanged and his body dissected.

Edith Thompson was a housewife and milliner whose lover, Frederick Bywaters, murdered her husband Percy. She was judged complicit in the murder of Percy and along with Bywaters, was hanged on the 9th January 1923; she at Holloway Prison; he at Pentonville Prison.

The last recorded funeral party carried on the London Necropolis Railway was that of Edward Irish, a Chelsea Pensioner, who was buried in Brookwood Cemetery on 11 April 1941.

Brookwood Cemetery is open to the public at days and times listed in their website brookwoodcemetery.com which also contains the site's history, notable burials, general information plus details of 'The Brookwood Cemetery Society'. 

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